Maria Vitale was deep in the stacks of her college library, looking for a book titled Occult Manual for Urban Ledgends that she saw at the beginning of the semester. Normally, a Sicilian wouldn't dream of touching such a thing-being highly superstitious Catholics-but it had something she needed.

That was thanks to an unreasonable ultimatum from Pops.

Maria was supposed to make up with her Grandmother, give up every bit of her personal life to inherit Lucia's Vitale's wealth, or her father would cut off his support. While she figured she could still make it without his help, it couldn't come at a worse time with midterms next week.

Grandmother Lucia didn't like her boyfriend. She made it clear during her visit to the US back when Maria first started dating Nico. Apparently that was enough to get her cut out of her Grandmother's will-which shouldn't be that big of a deal. Pops wasn't poor-didn't need his mother's money. Maria was doing well in college-with the intent to be a doctor so nobody would have to support her for life. There was no reason to find the old woman's decision so unacceptable.

Lucia was under some form of hospice care-Maria had not yet researched what they did in Sicily for those who were close to death, but her grandmother was in Garibaldi Hospital. Either she couldn't answer the phone anymore or they didn't understand her well enough to put her through. Calling the one cousin whose number she had resulted in getting cursed at because the hour was so late-but she did confirm that her grandmother was dying, officially.

From Pops' long list of unreasonable demands over her lifetime, she knew he wanted results, no matter what twisted thing she had to do to get them. He had never been a man worth crossing. That was a huge part of why she was in pre-med-anything to increase her independence in the long run. Honestly, she should have refused his help throughout college in spite of the debt she'd gain, but he would have fought harder to prevent her going if she had. This little bit of control kept him from going full-crazy.

That's why she found herself muttering half-aloud in the back end of the 2nd floor.

"Perhaps the stupid thing responded to who was looking? There had been this hot looking goth that day..." She dipped down to inaudible in case the devil himself showed up-it was a sour thought she had as she rounded the corner of the shelves.

Only to see Goth guy leaned against the shelving, holding the book in question. He almost looked like he had been waiting for her. He wore a half unzipped black hoodie with sweats, which meant that she could see half his chest and his ash blonde hair curled out from under the hood. His reddish-brown eyes were lit with humor. "Looking for me, sweet morsel?"

Maria let out of startled hiss, warding herself with the sign of the cross out of instinct.

Smoke gently steamed off the man's chest and a rage-lust tinted his eyes a brighter red. Fangs slowly sank down from his gums as he made a gesture of his own. The book went up in the air and her back hit a shelf as her arms were bound above her without a single touch.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that, honey." He strode towards Maria, within an inch of hitting every curve of her, then leaned in to within a hair's breadth of his lips touching her jawline, calmly breathing against her neck. 

He was waiting for something.

Maria's mouth was dry-never had been so deep into fight-or-flight before. She licked her lips, anything to get her voice to move. "Please!"

He didn't budge, spoke so closely that she could feel the vibration of his deepening voice across her chest and throat. "Please what, my little lost one?"

Oh, fuck! was all her brain could sputter for a second, then 2...3...try again... Her voice was hoarse, tight, needing something more than water, but she managed to speak, "I need your book, sir."

He stepped back, snapped his fingers, and they moved from the stacks to a study room instantly.

Maria wobbly sank into the chair next to her, barely registering that her plain yoga pants and t-shirt had become a black lace dress unlike anything she'd ever seen before. She didn't let it distract her, since it was less terrifying than having him so close. "The book?"

"How far are you willing to go to take it from me?"

"My grandmother is dying; I need to get to Sicily."

"That is not what I asked you." The man moved and knelt at her feet, the opposite of the terror he placed in her veins only moments before. This? She could handle it, even if her heart flipped over uncomfortably. "You're planning on calling forth that cab, aren't you? The price is much higher than the temptation of mine to devour you whole for searing my skin with your superstitions. How much of yourself are you willing to give to my master to take that ride?"

Maria wasn't wholly sure what he meant about his master, but there was no doubt about his temptation-she had a few of her own. Still, he wasn't the goal, today. Maybe one day, when free of her father's machinations. "Everything."

He held out the tattered book. "Then I give up my right to a price, this time. It will return to me after you use it. Next time? We will finish what you started, this day."

With a flash, the man disappeared, leaving behind a wisp of smoke.

Maria still didn't know who he was, but she knew he was the guardian of the manual. Next time-if there was a next time-she wouldn't be looking for the book.

Maria wished he had given her back her clothes instead of what she now wore. Not that it mattered, as time was short. She flipped through the pages until she landed on Cóiste Bodhar: the death coach driven by Duḃlaċan, the headless goblin. In the 1950s, the Erlkönig over the Cóiste Bodhar lost his vehicle in a wager to an anonymous fey ruler, who remade the death coach into a Taxi of Need, changing much of the malevolence in the tool to something more useful to humans that wished to deal with Dark Fey. Maria only had to call the Duḃlaċan by name to bargain a price for bringing her to her grandmother.

"Crasboeth, Taith!" Maria muttered to herself, to get a feel for the weird words. She could swear the creature's name wasn't ever meant to be one, and that taith was in the wrong tense, but the book insisted she called it in this manner.

True to the smoldering Goth's word, the manual disappeared as soon as she called the cab, leaving her wondering if she'd remember the phrase by the time she made it downstairs. Calling a taxi to pick her up in the study room of a library? What a crazy thing to do.

Maria collected herself and opened the door to go outside and find her ride, only to step into the back seat of a 1950s cab, with a headless driver.

"Crasboeth?" It felt like the place where a head should be gazed into the rear view mirror to look her in the eye.

"Where to, miss?" It spoke in guttural tones.

"Sicily, Italy. Garibaldi Hospital in Catania." Maria drummed her fingers on her forearm. "How fast can we get there?"

"As fast as a nonstop flight would, perhaps faster. Standard fare would be your hair, if you don't want to lose an eye or a hand."

"I don't think that will be fast enough."

The headless one laughed. "My dear, keeping the dying alive is not what the Cóiste Bodhar does. Prolonging the last drips of life comes from a Fate or Erlkönig. My master may have a solution, as well."

"Please, I have to see my grandmother one last time."

"Open the door you came in by. It will lead you to my master, but the price will be... "

Maria was out the door before he could finish what he had to say. "Kids these days are so impatient. I could have given her tips to pay a lesser price."